On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:34:16 -0400, mc wrote:

It's about as generic as a no-name Chinese case can get. I just went to
look, and when I looked more closely at that little pile of really cute
hardware, I saw a handful of brass standoffs, and some fiber washers.
(fibre?) So, I think, the fibre washers go on the insulated ... wait a
minute - the threads are still metal-to-metal.

The threads are metal-to-metal but the insulating washers keep the studs
from contacting more of the motherboard than they're supposed to.

Well, the latest in my continuing saga is that I bothered to RTFM on the
motherboard, and it says, in the second paragraph of chapter 1, "The
board can be mounted to the case using either studs or plastic standoffs.
Studs are recommended. To determine which your case uses, hold the board
in position, and look through the holes. If the case has threaded holes,
use studs. If the case has slots, use the plastic standoffs. The slots
allow the board to be slid into position for final mounting."

How F'ing Duh can you get? ;-)

So, I used the studs, and have a little supply of fiber washers, since
I couldn't imagine balancing one on top of a stud while I jockey
the board into position. The pads are quite substantial, so there's
no danger of a short.

When I finally fired it up, not only did it work, but it booted the
original W2K on the hard drive! I expected it to complain about the
new hardware, but all it did was report that it needed drivers, and
I just stuck in the CD that came with the MB, and I'm totally up
and running!

So, I'm going to be a lot more moderate in the future about my criticism
of Fry's - maybe they ship crap, and maybe their salesdroids are BK
rejects, but if you take it back to them, they do have at least one
tech, who will make it go. :-)

Now, I have to go back and see how much of my $40.00 I can get back
from the guy who told me the MB was hosed and it was my fault. :-[

Thanks,
Rich